The opening round matches at the Australian Open 2025 will continue on Tuesday, January 14 as Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz, Francisco Cerundolo and Rinky Hijikata take to court for their openers. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
- Get all the remaining tennis betting tips and predictions of the day here
- Also read what’s a Tennis Betting Accumulator here
Andrey Rublev v Joao Fonseca Preview
Head-to-Head: Rublev and Fonseca have never faced off in a competitive match before this.
A quarterfinalist at both, the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open, Andrey Rublev has a huge task ahead of him if he wants to repeat the same this season.
And that’s to do with the manner in which he ended the previous season and has started the new one.
In 2024, Rublev made the fourth round at the US Open but that was the last tournament in which he won three matches in a row. Following that performance, he featured in seven competitions last year but the best he could do was to win a couple of rounds at Beijing and Basel.
That wretched form followed him to Hong Kong this season when Rublev, who had a first round bye, was sent packing in the second by Fabian Marozzsan. Marozsan had started off a 3/1 underdog in that encounter.
While a quarterfinal entry would be tough for Rublev, he would he doesn’t have a lot of problem here against a player ranked 112th in the world. The problem here is that the 18-year-old Joao Fonseca is in the form of his life.
After clinching the Next Gen Finals late last year, Fonseca grabbed a title victory at the Canberra Challenger. He was forced to feature in the qualifiers here and dropped just 12 games on his way to the main draw.
Things could get very challenging for Rublev here and we wonder if we might see our first upset here. Probably not.
Rublev v Fonseca prediction: Over 3.5 sets in the match: 1/2
Hubert Hurkacz v Tallon Griekspoor Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been four previous meetings between these two and both Hurkacz and Griekspoor have won two apiece. Interestingly, all of their four matches have gone the distance – a five-setter at the 2023 French Open and three-setters in Halle, Basel and Rotterdam after that.
A quarterfinalist here last year, Hubert Hurkacz comes into the Australian Open on the back of a runner-ups trophy under his belt at the United Cup.
The Polish number one featured in five singles matches for his team but won just two of them and that’s where he could feel a bit undercooked. A defeat to Taylor Fritz in the final wasn’t that much of a surprise but going down to Casper Ruud and Tomas Machac would have hurt.
Against him is the world number 40 Tallon Griekspoor who hasn’t taken to court this year. This, to go with the kind of season he had in hardcourt tennis, losing 11 of the 21 matches he featured in.
Add that to the bit of rustiness from not having played in two months, Hurkacz could hold an advantage here.
Hurkacz v Griekspoor prediction: Hurkacz to win: 2/5
Francisco Cerundolo v Alexander Bublik Preview
Head-to-Head: Cerundolo and Bublik have never faced off in a competitive tennis match before this.
Not at his most comfortable in hardcourt competitions, Francisco Cerundolo had ended the 2024 season with a mere five wins on the surface spread across a whopping 11 tournaments.
The year has changed but it looks like Cerundolo’s fortunes haven’t with the Argentine kick-starting 2025 with an opening loss at the Auckland Open. Following a bye in the first round, Cerundolo fell to a defeat at the hands of Roberto Carballes Baena.
Carballes Baena is himself more of a clay-courter which makes that loss a hard pill to swallow for Cerundolo.
He now faces the 37th-ranked Alexander Bublik, making it a rather tough draw first up for the Argentine.
Bublik himself is coming off an opening round defeat Miomir Kecmanovic in Adelaide and while he did not have a great previous season either, he did win 10 matches in hardcourt competitions.
This includes a final at the ATP Dubai and doesn’t include a title win indoors in Montpellier for Bublik.
And at 7/5 odds, Bublik definitely looks like a good shot.
Cerundolo v Bublik prediction: Bublik to win: 7/5
Rinky Hijikata v Mitchell Krueger Preview
Head-to-Head: They have faced off once at the Phoenix Challenger which was played in 2023 and Hijikata had won that in straight sets.
After ending the 2023 season ranked 71st in the world, Rinky Hijikata did enough to maintain that over the next 12 months, finishing 2024 at 73rd.
And he will now enter the Australian Open ranked 72nd, following his sterling performance at the Adelaide International.
Hijikata was sent packing by Novak Djokovic in his season opener at Brisbane and he was then knocked out of the qualifiers in Adelaide. Qualifying through as a lucky loser, Hijikata then stunned David Goffin and Brandon Nakashima to make the quarterfinals there.
Mitchell Krueger, on the other hand, was ousted in the Canberra Challenger opener, but came back well at the qualifiers in this tournament. He went on to beat Cristian Jianu, Duje Ajdukovic and Yasutaka Uchiyama to make the main draw.
Ranked 149th right now, Krueger’s first goal will be to close in on his career-best of 135th in the world. Hijikata, however should prove to be a handful at home.
Hijikata v Krueger prediction: Hijikata to win: 2/5
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
- Daniel Altmaier v Francisco Comesana: Over 3.5 sets in the match: 1/2
